Moist Food & Diet Changing

nikianne

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My cat Nina LOVES moist food. But she simply cannot seem to handle digesting it properly. I have tried several types, high quality and only feed her about a tablespoon every few days or week. But she gets watery (stinky!) stools and even worse, it sticks in her long hair. I feed her high quality dry food - but I really think she gets bored with it. I feel terrible only feeding her one kind of dry food only. Does any else have this problem? Is it unhealthy for her to stay on dry food only (one brand-type only)?
 

sandie

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I have had several cats that don't do well on wet food. So I just stopped giving it to all of them. I found out it was okay to give dry food all the time, but I also suppliment with people food. They can have and benifit from things like cooked lamb,poultry,fish or raw ground beef. They can also have puree'd veggies,natural baby foods and brown rice. Good cat treats are baked potatoe,plain yogurt, popcorn, smoked oysters, cottage cheese, oatmeal with cream and even pancakes with a little butter. Just make sure the baby food has no onion powder in it. I find my kitties look forward to their special treats!!!
 

Anne

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If you do feed her people food (I think Sandie had some good ideas there), make sure you're still feeding mostly cat food. After all, this is the most balanced food you can give her.

I think it's okay to use people food (I like the term Sandie
!), as long as it's no more than 10% of her general food intake.

Maybe you should consult your vet though, because she might be sensitive to something in the food and that might indicate some problem. She could still be sensotove to the same element in other non-dry food.

By the way, when you say "moist food" do you mean canned food or the semi-moist treats?
 

sandie

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oops, sorry I was tired when I wrote that. I thought I had put something in there about using it as treats or snacks. I only use it in addition to cat food. I choose not to use wet food and so they get premium dry and people food for snacks. I also use a skin supliment on their food. As Anne said, allergies are a problem sometimes. If it continues, there are a few simple tests a vet can perform to find a specific ingredient. Oh and those little bottles of air freshner that keep for months, works wonders... near the cat boxes..hehe.

Sandie
 
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nikianne

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When I spoke about "moist" food, I mean canned food. She loves pounce. But those are only occasional treats. I tried giving her people food -all kinds , but she won't touch it. Her main diet will always be dry food. I would love to feed her some canned food, but like I said, she makes a MESS of herself. I have tried several types. It seems she gets bored with her dry food because she takes each bit out of her bowl with her paw where it falls on the floor. Then she sniffs it and eats it. I feel badly that she can't tolerate soft food because she likes it so much. She won't go near chicken, beef, shrimp, fish, cheese etc..
 

sandie

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All my cats seem to like something different. I even have some cats who won't touch milk "lactaid". You may want to try a little baby food. I don't give them much at a time, but it is nice to spend quality time feeding them with a spoon!! Like I said, make sure it doesn't have onion powder. As for the dry food, some people say it is bad and others say it is real good to try different brands. I would stay near the top of the line though. I even mix 2 sometimes. I hope she finds something she likes!!!
 
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